Fasteners



Oct. 27, 1959 E. s. BRADNER FASTENERS Fileq May 7, 1956 Inventor United States Patent FASTENERS Ernest G. Bradner, Oakville, Ontario, Canada, assignor to Dominion Fasteners Limited, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada This invention relates to fasteners and more particularly to fasteners for securing or mounting elements in relation to recesses or channels.

The invention has a particularly useful application in the securement of roof decking and will be illustrated in particular in its application in this field.

The application of roof decking to a metallic channelled roof base has presented a number of difliculties. In some instances, 'the decking has been fastened by a mastic adhesive but this creates fire hazards and in order to avoid this disadvantage, mechanical fastening means has been developed and used. These usually require perforation of the deck at different points to provide for securement and present difficulties in locating the securing means in relation to the cooperating portions of the roof base so as to secure it properly. In other cases, studs have been welded to the metal roof base and the decking has been impaled thereon and secured by fastening means engaging the projecting studs. Thus, in a number of prior pro posals complicated means of securement has been employed of questionable eificiency which requires substantial time and effort in the fastening of the decking and which often results in projecting points or tangs to present a hazard to workers walking on the roof. The present invention obviates these general difiiculties in a particularly simple way by providing a fastener which may be applied easily, which is self-locking when driven into a channel or recess, and which provides a simplified means for clamping roof decking and for supporting or securing other elements.

According to. the invention, the fastener generally comprises a shank having anchoring means on one end thereof of resilient character projecting outwardly on each side of the shank and having ends capable of gripping opposed walls of a recess under pressure whereby said anchoring element is biased to resist movement from the recess, said fastener having means on the opposite end of the shank for securing an element thereto in predetermined operative position. The gripping means preferably comprises a pair of diametrically opposed arms projecting on each side of the shank having ends preferably offset in a direction towards the opposite end of the shank, the said ends being formed to grip the sides of a recess against return movement therefrom.

The invention will be clearly understood by reference to the following detailed specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary perspective illustration of a channelled roof base with decking thereon secured to a fastener of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a fastener of the present invention made from one piece of material and having one form of means on one end for securing the roof decking or the like.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing a modified anchoring element; and

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2.

j whole made according to the present invention generally formed from sheet metal andcompri'sed' by a shank 10, a base 11 at one end thereof having gripping means in connection therewith for securing the fastener in a recess, and an element securing portion 12 at the opposite end.

In the form shown in Fig. 1, thefastener is produced from one piece of sheet metal cut and bent as shown, the gripping means of the base 11 being constituted by 'integral diametrically opposed somewhat resilient arms 13 and 14 projecting respectively on each side of the shank and having terminal ends 15 formed with gripping means to engage the sides of a recess, channel or the like and which in preferred form is constituted by teeth provided by serrating the terminal ends 15.

The arms 13 and 14 are resiliently biased to resist outward movement from the recess in which the fastener is anchored and in this respect are preferably offset ad.- jacent their outer ends by bending them in a direction substantially towards the opposite end of the shank. The

extent to which the arms project on each side of the shank is chosen in relation to the span of the recess at the location where the arms engage the opposed Walls thereof, the span of the arms being slightly greater than the span of the recess at the points of engagement so that when the fastener is projected into a recess such as the channel 16 of a metallic roof base 17, the arms will yield to an extent to permit the base of the fastener to be positioned adjacent to the base of the channel. In this instance, the gripping means of the free ends of the arms 13 and 14 will engage the opposed walls of the recess under a resiliently applied pressure and in the preferred formation, with ends of the arms offset in a direction towards the opposite end of the shank, will act to resist return movement of the within the recess or channel. However, it should be noted that the arms, because of their somewhat resilient character, need not necessarily be offset. So long as their span from end to end is slightly greater than the span of 1 the recess at their final point of location therewithin, a similar result is achieved since the engagement of the ends of the arms with the opposed walls of the recess will tend to flex the arms somewhat in the direction of the opposite end of the shank as the fastener is projected into its required location. Consequently, the arms will be resiliently biased to resist outward movementor an outward pull on the fastener. In fact, in either case an outwardly applied force will have the tendency only to cause the ends of the arms to grip more firmly.

The element securing end 12 of the fastener, in the form shown in Figs. 1 and 2, is designed for securing roof decking B on the channelled metal roof base 17. The shank 10 is made of any desired length to suit the purpose intended and in this case is bent as at 18, to form an offset extension 12a of shank 10 which, coupled with other formations as a whole, constitutes the securing portion 12. In Figs. 2 and 3, extension 12a is bent upon itself as at 19 and 20 to form a hook-like portion 21 ing is secured by the bearing engagement of the portion 12a on lap 22 and the bearing engagement of portion Patented Oct. 2 7, 1959 12b on the outer surface of the complementary lapped adjoining section.

The length of the portion 12a is dependent upon the length of the lap inthe decking which the fastener is designed to secure, just as the depth of the hook-like portion 21 shouldcoincide with the depth of the undercut which forms the lap. Moreover, the length of the shank between the base 11 and the point of bending 18 will be determined in accordance with the depth of the recess into which the base portion 11 of the clarnp is projected.

The element securing portion 12 may take different forms. In Fig. 4, it is comprised by two securing fingers 23 and 24 caused to project in opposite directions to one another so that they are opposed and may overlap the edges of two adjacent butting sections of roof decking.

In Fig. 3 I show a fastener of the same general character except that the base 11a is bowed upwardly from its outer edge'inwardly to a degree as at 25 which has the effect of strengthening the anchoring element and reducing to a limited degree the resiliency of the 'arms 13 and 14. It is preferred, of course, to form the fastener from sheet spring steel and itwill be understood that the arms 13 and 14, though being of resilient character, are substantially stiff. They yield to a degree when forced into a recess when the ends of arms 13 and 14 engage the opposed walls of the recess or channel under pressure caused by the fact that the span of the arms is slightly greater than the distance between the walls engaged thereby. When forced into position, therefore, the arms exert a substantial outward pressure against these walls so that the gripping extremity of the arms will tend to bite into the walls. The bowed portion 25 has the efiect of increasing the degree of bite to some extent.

It is preferred to form the fastener of the present invention from sheet material in a form substantially as illustrated with variation in the element securing end of the shank as may be required to suit the element which is to be secured. It should be understood, however, that the fastener may be formed from other than sheet material if desired so long as arms having some resiliency are employed whose span is slightly greater than the opposed walls of the recess with which they are designed to engage.

The fastener may be readily forced home into a recess by any suitable tool disposed preferably to engage the base and which, for instance, may be hammered quickly to force the fastener into position. The fastener is capable of quick placement to provide a means for securing the element in question and it is obvious that the fastener, by reason of its simplicity, can be manufactured economically. Moreover, from its facility of use, it is obvious that it will result in a saving of time and labour as, for'instance, its use in securing roof decking assures fast placement and securement of the decking sections as compared to more complicated methods of securement. Finally, it will be appreciated that in securing roof decking and the like it provides a means of securement which does not alter or effect the character of the roof deck elements and eliminates the necessity for piercing or otherwise modifying roof decking or elements of similar nature.

While the fastener of the present invention will conveniently be made of suitable metal such as spring steel for various of its uses, it is obvious that in some spheres of use it might be formed of other material such as strong plastic.

What I claim as my invention is:

l. The combination with a structural support having a substantially rigid walled recess of a fastener formed from sheet material designed to be anchored within said walled recess and comprising a flat sheet-like shank having a flat sheet like base at one endthereof, said base being disposed in a plane substantially normal to said shank, an arm projecting from opposite sides of said base beyond the sides edges of said shank and in opposed relation to one another and terminating in free ends having a plurality of prongs forming cooperative gripping means engaging under pressure two opposed walls of the recess in which the fastener is inserted, said arms being offset in a direction toward the opposite end of said shank,

the span of said arms from free end to free end in a relaxed condition being slightly greater than the distance between said opposed walls of said recess at the point of engagement of said ends with said walls, said offset portions of said arms guiding the inward movement of said fastener to a predetermined position within said recess upon insertion of said fastener in said recess and resisting outward movement therefrom, and means on the opposite end of the shank for securing an element in predetermined relation to said recess.

2. A combination according to claim 1 wherein the free edges of said arms are serrated to provide said prongs.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,007,354 Vass July 9, 1935 2,063,457 Nold et al. Dec. 8, 1936 2,316,424 Hasenburger et al. Apr. 13, 1943 2,335,302 Olsen Nov. 30, 1943 2,388,968 Hedgren Nov. 13, 1945 2,620,906 Ketchum Dec. 9, 1952 2,744,708 Bedford May 8, I956 FOREIGN PATENTS 647,302 Great Britain of 1950 

